The Woodchuck 1 1 



winter. Early in autumn I came upon such a pair 

 not far from the summer home which had so interested 

 me, and I pleased myself by imagining they were 

 two of my old friends. The spot they had selected 

 for their burrow was on a gentle simny slope in one 

 comer of the meadow. They had evidently been 

 working, little by little, on the new burrow before 

 they left the old one, but now they made a regular 

 business of it and worked with a will. And rapid 

 progress they made, for their feet are armed with 

 powerful claws and there is a partial web between 

 the toes, a combination which makes a most excel- 

 lent pick and shovel. The fore feet are used princi- 

 pally for digging and the hind ones for throwing 

 backward the loosened earth and stones. 



For some distance from the entrance the burrow 

 inclined downward quite sharply, then turned slightly 

 upward and continued along beneath the surface 

 for a distance of fifteen feet ; this arrangement secured 

 good drainage, which is all-important in the home of 

 the woodchuck. There was a small side tunnel four 

 feet long which ended in an exit, while the main 

 burrow terminated in a chamber of considerable size, 

 in which there was a quantity of line grass for bedding. 



When the woodchucks had completed their home 

 they were ready for housekeeping. The meadows 



